What the Baldwin Effect affects

Thomas J.H. Morgan, Thomas L. Griffiths

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Baldwin Effect is a proposed mechanism by which plasticity facilitates adaptive phenotypic and genetic evolution. In particular it has been proposed to be involved in the evolution of language. Here we investigate three factors affecting the extent to which plastic traits are fixed by selection: (i) the difficulty with which traits can be acquired through plasticity, (ii) the importance of traits to fitness, and (iii) the nature of dependencies between different traits. We find that selection preferentially fixes traits that are difficult to acquire through plasticity, traits that have larger fitness benefits, and traits that affect the acquisition of, or benefits from, other traits. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the evolution of language as well as non-human behaviors and reconsider the evolutionary significance of the Baldwin Effect.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2015
EditorsDavid C. Noelle, Rick Dale, Anne Warlaumont, Jeff Yoshimi, Teenie Matlock, Carolyn D. Jennings, Paul P. Maglio
PublisherThe Cognitive Science Society
Pages1643-1648
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9780991196722
StatePublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Mind, Technology, and Society, CogSci 2015 - Pasadena, United States
Duration: Jul 23 2015Jul 25 2015

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2015

Conference

Conference37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Mind, Technology, and Society, CogSci 2015
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPasadena
Period7/23/157/25/15

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Keywords

  • Baldwin effect
  • gene-culture co-evolution
  • language evolution

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